Secrets
by cindythechef
Summary: Mitch and Cam work on their wedding among the details they are trying to decide on is Lily's flower girl dress. Problem is Lily has no interest in being a girl at the wedding and Gloria gets help from Claire to deal with a secret illness. It is really hard to write a summary of something with three different story lines going.
1. Chapter 1

Claire's cell phone rang during dinner preparations she saw that it was Gloria calling so she left Luke in charge of boiling the pasta and went into the back porch to talk.

_Claire- Hey Gloria what can I do for you tonight?_

_Gloria- Claire I need for you to watch Joe tomorrow and have Manny come to your house after school. Is that okay?_

_Claire – Sure what is going on are you and Dad all right?_

_Gloria – Oh yes we are both fine you no need to worry. I have a little doctors appointment and they told me to count on it taking a couple of hours because they are fitting me in. _

_Claire- Okay if you're sure you are okay it is perfectly fine for the boys to come over tomorrow. What time will you bring Joe by and will I need to feed them dinner?_

_Gloria – Thank you Claire. I will be over with Joe about noon and it might be a good idea for you to plan on feeding the boys. I have to go know I will see you tomorrow. Oh and Claire your Father does not know about this okay. He thinks I am going for a spa day we have to keep this between us girls. BYE_

The phone line went dead before Claire could argue. She stood on the back porch holding her cell phone to her chest thinking what could be wrong with Gloria and how is she going to keep this from her father.

Luke started screaming out the kitchen window, "MOM! How do I know when the pasta is done? They are rising to the top like they are trying to volunteer as tribute." Luke mutters to himself, "No Katniss you cant. I can do this nooo…"

Claire just shakes her head and walks back into the kitchen to take over dinner.

A few streets over Mitchell and Cameron are in their office trying to decide on the decorations for their upcoming wedding. They have disagreed and fought over every detail. Now Cam wants to buy personalized chocolate bars for wedding favors but Mitchell answers his suggestion with a half hearted, "Meh".

At the hour mark of their discussion Lilly came in and asked, "Do we have any midgets in the family?"

Mitch and Cam looked at each other a little confused. Mitch answered, "Uh, No honey why would you ask such a thing?"

Lilly didn't answer her father she just snapped her finger in disappointment, "Well darn there goes that plan."

At the two hour mark Lily came in and announced, "If you come in and I am holding a goat with a knife to its throat then you know my plan did not work out the way I hoped" and walked out.

Cam shut the laptop and looked at Mitch, "I think now might be the right time to table wedding decisions and go check up on Lily."

Standing up Mitch agreed and they left to see what their precocious little girl was up to.

The next day at noon Gloria came into Claire's house with Joe in his car seat and a huge diaper bag. Claire was sitting on the couch with her arms folded over her chest. Gloria noticed the tension in her stepdaughter and asked, "What is da matter Claire?"

Claire took a deep breath, "What is going on with you Gloria? If you want me to keep this to myself then you better start singing like a canary and tell me why you are going to the doctor today and why they have to fit you in?"

Putting Joe's car seat on the table she sat on the couch next to Claire, "Claire I have found a lump in my breast they want to examine me and then send me for a rush mammogram and they want me to wait for the results. That is why it may be a long day. I do not want your father to know about this yet. He does not handle things like this well and I want to make sure I am okay with this before I tell him, okay?"

Any anger Claire might have held just vanished and she pulled Gloria into a hug, " No worries Gloria I will keep your babies and your secret; just know that I am here if you need me okay."

Gloria smiled, "Thank you Claire, wish me luck eh, it is probably nothing and I will see you tonight"

The house was quiet baby Joe was asleep, Alex and Manny would be at school for another 3 hours, Alex was with Haley checking out a college till evening and Phil had three showings that would keep him busy until at least dinner. She looked at sleeping baby Joe and sighed, "A nap sounds good Joe. Just holler when you are ready for one of my famous bottles."

In the Tucker-Pritchett house Mitchell was playing househusband since he was currently unemployed. He spent the morning scouring the job wanted adds with no luck so he decided to pick Lily up from school and take her to try on flower girl dresses for the wedding.

Lily got in the car and Mitchell excitedly told Lilly. "Guess what sweet heart Daddy is going to take his princess dress shopping. We are going to find the prettiest dress for you."

Lilly just rolled her eyes and went to playing games on her phone. Mitch was worried, "Don't you want to go dress shopping for our families big day sweet heart?"

Lily didn't even look up, "I don't want a dress, I want to wear a tuxedo like you and Daddy."

Mitch fought to keep his bottom lip from coming out, "Sweetheart you would look adorable in a tux but Daddy and I are boys and you are our precious little girl and precious little girls wear dresses, will you just try some on for me today and unless you fall in love with a dress we will wait on a final choice till close to the wedding okay."

Lily rolled her eyes, "There is all ready going to be a ton of penises there cant I have an honorary penis just for the day?"

Claire was feeding Joe his afternoon bottle and jar of baby food when her quiet house slowly filled with the sounds of her loving family coming home.

Luke's voice was the first voice to be heard, "Manny don't be ridiculous Jenifer Wilson will never go out with you. She is a senior for one and she is also the head cheerleader. You have more of a chance to get eaten by a sewer shark that jumps out of the sewer and eats you on the way to school than you have of Jenifer EVER being anything other than polite to you and she is a cheerleader and one of the popular girls they aren't always known to be masters of polite they just get their football playing boyfriends to pull your underwear over your head and shove you in a locker."

Manny still looking dreamy, "Say what you want Luke but when she handed me the Ketchup at lunch I felt sparks. I ship us like a Carnival cruise. Which would be a better ship name Janny or Manifer?"

Luke just shook his head and ran into the kitchen for a snack, Manny following close behind still talking up the virtues of Jennifer to Luke.

Next in the house were Alex and Hailey. Hailey stopped on her way to her room in the garage looked at her mom, "I will not take Alex to any other colleges. This place was filled with people just like Alex, I am surprised the Nerd wasn't contagious in that place."

Alex came beside her sister, "What are you complaining about you were like the Pied Piper you had a ton of boys following you around campus."

Hailey scoffed, "They all had tape on their glasses and at least two of them had to stop and use their inhaler half way around campus, for awhile there I thought I was being stalked by Darth Vader."

Claire having enough told both girls to go to their rooms and chill out till dinner.

Deciding cooking was not looking too enticing she decided that when Phil got home it would be a pizza night.

Phil came in about ten minutes later, "Hi Honey, I am home and your amazing wonderful husband deserves a big kiss because he landed a sell with all three; yes I said three showings today."

Claire jumped up with Joe in her hands and gave him a huge hug, "Oh honey, I am so proud of you. Way to be a super seller."

Phil hugged his wife and then looked at Joe suspiciously, "Not that I don't love having Joe and I am assuming Manny here but why are they here tonight?"

Claire trying to think quickly, "Gloria had a spa day today and my Father is in meetings all day so I said I would help out. She should be back here soon."

Giving Joe to Phil she continued, "Why don't you go play with Joe and I will order the pizza for dinner, the girls will eat a veggie pizza and the boys will want a meat, what about you what kind would you want?"

Phil answered, "How about sausage and extra cheese?"

Claire turned up her nose, "How about Cheese and peperoni?"

Phil smiled, "Yes Dear that is what I meant to say."


	2. Chapter 2

The family came in and grabbed their pizza and left for their respective parts of the house. Phil and Claire sat at the table eating while Joe was busy eating some cheerios. Dinner was almost over when Gloria showed up for the kids.

Claire saw the forced smile on her face and quickly ushered her into the small home office to talk.

"What did the Doctor say Gloria?"

Gloria bit her bottom lip for a moment then quietly said, "Um they found the lump that I felt on the mammogram and they want me to come back to the hospital on Monday to have it biopsied."

Claire hugged Gloria tightly, "Oh God Gloria I am so, so sorry. Do you want me to come over tonight so I can help you tell Dad?"

Gloria wiped her face and stood straighter, "NO! I am not going to tell him until I know what it is I am dealing with. They said it could be a clogged milk duct from when I nursed Joe and your father (Claire grimaced) for all those months. I can't think that it could be anything else not yet okay. I am going to tell your father that I am going out of town with a friend and he is in charge of the children that day. Please Claire do not tell him, not yet, please."

Claire thought for a moment weighing what she was going to do, "Fine! I wont tell Dad if you let me go with you to the biopsy. I can stay with you in the hospital and we can tell Dad and Phil that we are having a girls bonding time. Deal?"

Gloria gently hugged Claire, "Are you sure you want to spend the day away from your family?"

Right then Hailey and Alex came running into the kitchen wet from the water balloons Luke and Manny threw at them while Alex and Hailey were trying on clothes. Both girls were screaming at their father for justice to be served on the two little trolls.

Claire looked at Gloria, "It will be a sacrifice to sit in a quiet hospital and read all day while you recover from the biopsy but for you I will make the sacrifice."

Not having a clue to what was happening with his Step Mom and Sister Mitchell was pacing in the living room waiting for Cam to come home. He had left Lily at a friend's house for a sleepover.

Cam came in the door with his usual cherry self, "Honey, I'm HOME!" Seeing a distraught Mitch with no Lilly in sight he began to panic, "Mitch what is wrong? Where is Lilly? Oh my God this is just like that movie on Lifetime that I made you watch last week? Oh I think I am going to pass out? Where is our daughter? What happened? Do I need to get some of our lesbian friends to go rough someone up?"

Mitch looked at his fiancé with a questioning look, "Cam, settle down please. Lilly is fine she is spending the night at Elisa's house you know the little girl with the braces and the Mommy that likes to show up at school wearing a tube top and to tight leggings."

Cam shook his head yes, "If Lilly is okay then why are you so upset?"

Mitch motioned for Cam to join him on the couch, "Well, today when I picked our princess up at school I wanted to take her to look for a dress to wear in the wedding and she told me that she wanted to wear a tuxedo. When I told her little girls wear dresses to weddings; she asked me if she could have an honorary penis for that day so she could wear a tux like us. What do we do Cam?"

Cam looked a Mitch, "Well, I don't know. She would look really adorable in a little tux and maybe we could make all pink and frilly for her. I know why don't we ask Claire if maybe the girls can take her out looking and maybe when she sees them looking at dresses and being all girly she will change her mind."

Claire and Gloria told their respective husbands in no certain terms that they were burnt out and they were going to go to Palm Springs and they were on Dad duty till Tuesday after lunch.

Monday morning Gloria and Claire were off on their "vacation" both men got the gets off to school and Joe was safe in the Manny's hands. All the kids had orders to be at Phil and Claire's after school and the Manny was there all night long for Joe.

That evening Jay came over to pick up Manny, the kids were all having fun and for once they were quiet so that gave the men time to talk, "So Jay what do you think our hot wives are up to tonight?"

Jay looked a little worried, "To be honest with you Phil I am not real happy tonight. I called the place that Gloria goes to and they did not have a record of either Gloria or Claire checking in. If they aren't at the spa then what the hell are they up to?"

Phil looked at Jay a little shell-shocked from that bit of information, "Well maybe they tried another spa. Claire didn't tell me where they were going to be, she just told me that she would be out of range and could only check messages once tonight."

Jay looked at his phone, "I trust Gloria it is just I have had this gnawing feeling in my stomach all night and I just.. well I am worried."

Patting Jay on the shoulder, "Listen Dad, where ever they are they are together and they would let us know if there was anything to worry about. I trust Claire and Gloria so should you."

Jay hollered for Manny, "You are right Phil, thanks and I will see you here at the house tomorrow to welcome our ladies home. Night."

Jay and Manny left and Phil got his laptop and ran the find my phone app and St. Joseph's hospital came up as the location for Claire's phone. "Oh my God Claire why are you at a hospital? What is going on? Oh please don't be your heart again. We are going to SO have a Duphy family talk when you get home tomorrow."

The next day Manny and Luke were off to school. Alex and Haley picked Lilly up from school early and took her dress shopping.

Phil got a text that they should be home at 2 at the latest. At 2:00 Phil, Jay, Mitch and Cam were gathered together. Mitch and Cam were waiting to see what Lilly picked; they had no idea about Claire and Gloria.

2:30-Claire and Gloria came into the house to find all four men sitting on the couch in silence waiting for them. Phil stood and took Claire's bag for her and when he saw her face he nearly broke down into tears, "Claire you told me that you would never lie to me and I traced your phone yesterday and it said you were at no spa you were at the hospital. I want you to give it to me straight. Is it your heart again what is going on?"

Claire noticing her husband about to break out into tears, "Oh Honey, YOU TRACED MY PHONE HOW COULD YOU?"

Phil rubbed her shoulders, "Yell at me for that latter now tell it to me straight how bad is it?"

At this point the three other men gathered around all looking terrified waiting for an explanation.

Claire looked at Gloria for permission to tell. Gloria shook her head yes and began to tell the guys what was going on, "Phil, Claire is fine stop worrying. She was accompanying me to the hospital"

The color left Jay's face, "WHAT? She was there for you what is going on and why didn't you tell me?"

Gloria took a deep breath and began, "The Doctor found a lump in my breast last week and they ordered an emergency mammogram that same day. They saw a pretty big mass and so they scheduled me for a biopsy yesterday. I wasn't even ready to accept the news myself so I didn't want to tell you until I new for sure."

Cam gasped at the news. Phil reached out to Claire and brought her into a hug and Mitchell patted his Dad's back. Jay looked at Gloria, "Oh kay we will skim over the not telling me for now. What did the biopsy say?"

Gloria smiled, "It is a large benign mass it was probably a clogged and infected milk duct. They took it out and sent it to a lab to find out exactly what it is but the important thing is it was not cancer."

Jay pulled Gloria into a tight hug and didn't even worry about hiding the tears in his eyes. "I am so glad you are okay. I don't know what I would do with out you."

The emotional tension in the room was palpable when Hailey and Alex came in the door, "Are you all okay in here? What is going on?"

All the couples straightened themselves out and turned to the girls. Claire spoke for the group, "Long story but we are all okay now. Were you able to find Lilly a dress for the wedding?"

Hailey smiled a huge smile, "Did we EVER. Uncle Mitch told us that she wanted to be in a tux but he really wanted her to be in a dress something more appropriate for a little girl. Well we found the perfect outfit that will make everyone happy."

Alex brought Lilly into the door by the hand. Lilly was wearing a pink tuxedo top with a flowing floor length pink skirt and she had a headpiece of pretty pink flowers with ribbon down the back. Lilly was smiling ear to ear as she began to twirl and told them all how the skirt got great big while she spun around.

Alex, Lilly and Haley were all waiting for the group's reaction and they were starting to get a little scared when they noticed Mitch's eyes begin to water.

Lilly went up to her Dad's and asked, "Why are you crying do you not like my new dress?"

Mitch grabbed Lilly up into a strong hug. He hugged her tight to his chest till she started to kick her legs and struggled to breath. "I am sorry honey. I LOVE your dress it is just perfect for the wedding. You are our beautiful princess and you look the part of a princess in that amazing dress."

All the adults stood in the living room watching Lilly spin around. Alex and Hailey even joined in the spinning. Everyone laughed at the two teenagers antics.

Jay's voice

For a couple of days the world seemed to tilt out of control but now things were back the way they should be. Family is an ever-growing ever changing entity of its own. Thank the Lord you don't have to agree with each other on everything to still love each other. A family is a circle of strength with every birth and marriage the family grows and with every crisis the family is strengthened.


End file.
